Tubz 🛀 Unfiltered - Volume 47
College Football Is All The Way Back
Happy Monday, y’all!
Short newsletter this week because I am pretty bummed. I am pretty bummed because summer is over and, except for scheduled PTO days, we all do not have any days off until Thanksgiving. It is like having to swim in the pool with a shirt on because you got too sunburnt — not ideal at all.
🏆 SPORTZ 🏆
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 1: I went to the Wisconsin game, so I did not watch a full game to break down. Thus, I will recap a handful of that took place over the weekend.
The Backyard Brawl took place on Thursday between West Virginia and Pittsburgh, marking the first time that the two rivals played each other since 2011. WVU head coach Neal Brown opted to punt it on 4th and 1 from Pitt’s 48-yard line with 6 minutes to go, clinging to a 31-24 lead. Changed the whole complexion of the game. Pitt went on to score on the following possession and then scored again on a Pick-6.
Ohio State barely squeaked by Notre Dame, despite being a 17-point favorite. Is Ohio State overrated? Probably not, but it is fun to think about.
Georgia curb stomped Oregon, 49-3. Men versus boys.
Florida pulled off the upset over No. 7 Utah, 29-26. QB Anthony Richardson is a name to keep an eye out for as the season progresses; the man is an electric factory.
No. 13 NC State almost crapped the bed against East Carolina, but luckily for the Wolfpack, ECU missed a field goal as time expired (ECU kicker missed an XP earlier in the game).
In Brian Kelly’s debut for LSU, the Tigers had two special teams miscues against Florida State, including having an XP blocked that would have tied the game at the end of regulation, allowing the Seminoles to escape with the dub, 24-23.
Houston and UTSA went into triple OT. Tie game, 35-35. On the two-point attempt, Houston QB Clayton Tune put the team on his back with a highlight-reel quarterback scamper to win it.
PACK THE COURT: Announced last week, the College Football Playoff will expand from four teams to 12 teams, starting as late as 2026 or as early as 2024. Expanding to eight is the way to go (Power-5 conference champions (5) + two at-large bids + the best team from the Group of 5), but the CFP Board of Managers wanted to generate more money so they opted for 12 instead.
This obviously gives the non-blue blood Power 5 teams a chance to technically compete for a national title, but do the non-blue bloods actually have a legitimate chance to win the national title? Highly unlikely as of now, but who knows what surprise teams will come out of the woodworks in the next few years.
The four highest-ranked conference champions will be seeded one through four with each receiving a first-round bye. Teams seeded five through 12 will play each other in the first round on either the second or third weekend of December. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played in bowl games on a rotating basis, and the championship game will be at a neutral site, as under the current four-team format.
What I want — but probably will not get because of the $$ — are more playoff games on college campuses. Forget the corporate bowl game locations, give me a raucous college crowd ten times out of ten.
Another thing that I want is for the “cupcake” games to go away. For the two teams that make it to the national title game (assuming they play in their conference championship game), they play a 15-game schedule. Is college football really going to turn into an NFL-like schedule? It should not, which is why they should get rid of the “cupcake” game. Plus, Power-5 teams pay a hefty price to those cupcake teams as it is, so they would save money in the process by getting rid of that game.
If you chuckled, make sure to forward to others and/or share on social. Any corrections, omissions, suggestions, etc., send 'em my way. Much love. -Tubz